Carry bag for personal items such as keys or valuables

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a carry bag for carrying personal items and a method of manufacturing a carry bag for carrying personal items. The carry bag comprising an inner pouch within which one or more personal items can be received, the inner pouch being made of a water impervious material such that in use the inner pouch resists water entry and thereby protects the personal items within the inner pouch from water. An outer pouch within which the inner pouch is completely received, the outer pouch having an opening through which the inner pouch is passed and a flap extending across the opening to completely conceal the inner pouch; and a strap on the outer pouch for strapping the outer pouch to the body of a user.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a carry bag for personal items such as keysand valuables.

This invention relates particularly but not exclusively to a carry bagfor personal items such as keys and valuables that can be worn on thebody of a user. The carry bag will be particularly useful for beachgoerswho can use the carry bag to store their keys and valuables while theyare engaging in beach activities such as surfing, swimming, wind surfingand the like. For example the user could be a bather and the carry bagcontaining personal items could be worn on the bather's body while theyare bathing. It will also be particularly useful for runners, cyclists,canoeists, and kayakers.

It will therefore be convenient to hereinafter describe this inventionwith reference to this example application. However it is to be clearlyunderstood that the invention is capable of broader application. Forexample the invention could also be used to store personal items such askeys and valuables on the body of a user who was conducting otheractivities. For example the carrier could be used by a user engaged inother sports such as road runners, cyclists, canoeists, and kayakers. Itcould also be used by users participating in extreme sports such as hanggliding, parachuting and rock climbing.

BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION

A common pastime in many countries is for a person to visit a beach andto engage in typical beach activities while they are at the beach. Theseactivities might include sunbathing, swimming, surfing, diving, playinga ball sport on the beach, or flying a kite.

A common problem encountered by bathers when visiting the beach is thatthey do not have a place to store their valuables while they arevisiting the beach. As a result bathers might leave their personal itemsin a beach bag that is left on the beach next to their beach towel.

It will be appreciated that if personal items such as keys and valuablesare left with the bather's personal belongings unattended on the beachthey are vulnerable to being stolen. A bather's personal belongings areparticularly vulnerable to being stolen on a beach because a thief canwatch their movements carefully and then pick an opportune moment tocarry out the theft, e.g. while they are away from their personalbelongings and swimming in the sea. Typically the thief might steal abeach bag or item of clothing containing a person's valuables, when itis not being overseen or guarded by a person.

In the prior art a bather might have tried to avoid this risk of theftby placing their car keys in a pocket of their bathing trunks. Howeverin this scenario the car keys would be likely to get wet. Further thecar keys might also be at risk of coming out of the pocket of thebathing trunks while the bather is swimming in the sea and consequentlybeing lost. This is particularly so if the bather is engaged in boardsurfing or body surfing. Further it will readily be appreciated that abather could not store paper money in a pocket of a pair of bathingtrunks, because the money would be likely to get wet.

Further some types of bathing trunks, particularly those worn by women,are simply not suitable for carrying personal items and do not have apocket for storing a user's valuables and car keys.

Some bathers manage this problem by visiting a beach in groups of two ormore people, and then taking it in turns to swim in the sea. The idea isthat there is always one person who stays behind with bags and beachtowels belonging to the group of persons. That person remains as asentry overseeing the bags on the beach to reduce the risk of theft ofpersonal items from the bags.

However this situation is not optimal as it is desirable for bathers toenjoy a sense of freedom when they visit a beach. It would beadvantageous if they did not have to continuously keep watch over theirpersonal belongings. It is also desirable for bathers visiting the beachas a group to be able to do things as a group on the beach and not tohave one person maintaining watch or guard over their personal items. Itis recognized that this is a significant detraction on the quality ofenjoyment that can be afforded by a visit to the beach.

Clearly it would be advantageous if an innovation could be devised thatgave a person the freedom to engage in a sporting or a leisure activitywithout having to worry about the safety and security of their personalpossessions. At the same time it would be further advantageous if theinnovation enabled a person to keep their personal possessions, e.g.paper money and credit cards, dry as well as safe when they engage inleisure or sporting activities that involve swimming.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to a first aspect, the present invention provides a carry bagfor carrying personal items, the carry bag comprising: an inner pouchwithin which one or more personal items can be received, the inner pouchbeing made of a water impervious material such that in use the innerpouch resists water entry and thereby protects the personal items withinthe pouch from water; an outer pouch within which the inner pouch iscompletely received, the outer pouch having an opening through which theinner pouch is passed and a flap extending across the opening tocompletely conceal the inner pouch; and a strap on the outer pouch forstrapping the outer pouch to the body of a user.

Thus the personal items are received within the inner pouch, which inturn is received within the outer pouch, which in turn is strapped ontoa user's body with the strap.

The inner pouch may be interchangeable between an open and a closedcondition.

The inner pouch may be made of a water impervious material, e.g. plasticmaterial, and the pouch may be designed to resist water entry when inthe closed condition.

The inner pouch may comprise two walls of flexible sheet material. Thetwo walls may be of substantially rectangular shape and the inner pouchin turn may have a substantially rectangular shape having two sides andtwo ends.

The inner pouch may define an opening through which personal items maybe inserted into the inner pouch and be withdrawn from the inner pouch.The opening may be defined in an end thereof and may be formed by freeends of walls of flexible material. Thus the two walls of flexiblematerial are not attached to each other along this end thereby formingthe opening.

The two walls of sheet material may be sealed to each other to form saidinner pouch. In particular the two walls of sheet material may be sealedto each along two sides of the inner pouch and one end of the pouch,namely the opposite end to that forming the opening to the inner pouch.

The inner pouch may comprise a personal item receiving section remotefrom the opening that is side by side with a fold over section that isadjacent the pouch opening. The fold over section may be folded over tolie against the item receiving section when the inner pouch is in theclosed condition whereby to resist water entry into the inner pouch inuse. Further the walls of the inner pouch may be made of a material thattends to stick together releasably when the two walls are brought intocontact thereby helping to resist water entry into the inner pouch.

The folded inner pouch may be sized to be received within the outerpouch in such a manner that it can lie flat within the outer pouch. Thishelps to keep the profile of the carry bag as low as possible.

The outer pouch may have an outer pouch opening through which the innerpouch can be inserted into the outer pouch and out of which the innerpouch can be withdrawn from the outer pouch.

The outer pouch may be manually interchanged between an open position inwhich the inner pouch can be inserted into or withdrawn from the outerpouch, and a closed condition in which the inner pouch is securelyreceived within the outer pouch.

The outer pouch may be made of a resilient material that can be manuallystretched. The resilient material may be an elastomeric material, e.g. aneoprene cloth material.

The outer pouch may comprise two major surfaces formed from two walls offlexible sheet material that are fastened to each other along at leastpart of their periphery.

The outer pouch may have a rectangular shape having two sides and twoends extending transversely to the two sides. The two walls may befastened to each other along two sides and one end of the outer pouch.The two walls may be free from each other along the other end whereby toform the outer pouch opening.

The outer pouch may include a flap extending from one wall across theopening, and then extending over part of the other wall whereby tophysically cover the opening of the outer pouch and close it off.

The flap may have two opposed side edges extending to a terminal or freeedge spaced away from the opening of the outer pouch, and the terminaledge may extend parallel to the ends of the pouch.

The terminal edge of the flap may be positioned a distance of 2-10 cmaway from the open ends of the walls of the outer pouch, e.g. a distanceof 2-5 cm away from the open ends of the walls.

The two opposed side edges of the flap may be held against the adjacentmajor surface of the flap along their length. The flap may extend adistance of 2-10 cm along the other wall of the pouch forming the othermajor surface, in a direction away from the opening, e.g. a distance of2-5 cm along the other wall away from the opening.

The elastomeric nature of the flap enables the flap to be manuallypulled away from the adjacent wall of the outer pouch to provide accessto the opening, and to permit the inner pouch to be inserted thereintoand be withdrawn therefrom.

The flap assists in securely retaining personal items within the outerpouch during use.

The strap may include an elongate strap member having two longitudinalside edges, two opposed ends and a releasable attachment for releasablyattaching the ends of the strap to each other.

The strap member may also be made of elastomeric material. The outerpouch and the strap member may be made of the same elastomeric material.In one example form the strap member may be integrally formed with theouter pouch of elastomeric material. The strap member may form one ofthe walls of the outer pouch.

The strap member may be fastened to the limb of a user and the strapmember may be sized so that it is sufficiently long to strap it to along limb of a user. In one embodiment the strap member may be sized forattachment to an arm of a user, e.g. an upper arm or a forearm of auser. In another embodiment the strap member may be sized for attachmentto a leg of a user, e.g. an upper leg or thigh region of a user, or alower leg or a calf region of a user. Instead in a yet furtherembodiment the strap member may be sized so that it can be passed aroundthe middle trunk, midriff region or waist region of a user.

The releasable fastener may include two complementary fastenercomponents on the strap member spaced apart from each other. In one formthe fastener may be a hook and loop fastener with a hook component onthe strap member spaced away from a loop component on the strap memberspaced away from said hook component.

Specifically one of the hook and loop components may be positionedtowards one end of the strap member and the other of the hook and loopcomponents may be positioned spaced away therefrom along the length ofthe strap member. This is commonly referred to as a VELCRO™ system.

The strap may include an eye for the strap member, through which an endand associated end region of the strap member can be passed. The end andassociated end region of the strap member can be passed through the eyeand then be turned back over the strap member. The hook and loopcomponents can then be fastened to each other.

The eye for the strap and the arrangement whereby an end region of thestrap member is passed through the eye and then turned back over thestrap member, to which it is fastened, this is more secure than a simpleattachment of free ends of the strap member to each other. A securefastening of the carry bag to the body of a user is advantageous ifvaluables are to be stored in the carry bag.

Instead in another form the strap may have a buckle for fastening spacedpoints on the strap member to each other. The term buckle is used in ageneric sense in this context and includes all manner of buckles, forexample a turnbuckle may be used.

The ends of the outer pouch may extend parallel to the longitudinal sideedges of the strap member. Correspondingly the sides of the outer pouchmay extend transversely to the longitudinal side edges of the strapmember.

The strap member may be flared as it approaches its attachment to theouter pouch and the width of the strap member may be substantially thesame as the outer pouch at the point where it attaches to the outerpouch. Alternatively the strap member and the outer pouch may be thesame width along the entire length of the carry bag. This also meansthat the eye or eyelet would be approximately the same width of theouter pouch to receive the strap member for securing the carry bag tothe user.

This assists the outer pouch to be held in a position where it lies flaton a user's body, and does not have a tendency to lift off a user's bodyin use.

According to another aspect of this invention there is provided a carrybag for carrying personal items, including:

-   -   a pouch within which one or more items can be received that is        made of a resilient material that can be manually stretched, the        pouch defining an opening through which the items can be passed        and including a flap extending across the opening.        The carry bag may include a strap on the pouch for strapping the        pouch onto a limb of a user.

The pouch may comprise two walls of flexible sheet material definingmajor surfaces that are fastened to each other along at least part ofthe length of the edge of the pouch.

The flap may extend from one wall of sheet material across and over theopening, and then also across part of the other wall forming the othermajor surface whereby to physically close off the opening of the pouch.

The flap may have two opposed side edges extending to a free edge spacedaway from the opening of the pouch. The two opposed side edges of theflap may be held against the adjacent major surface of the flap alongtheir length. The flap may extend a distance of 2-10 cm along the otherwall of the pouch forming the other major surface, in a direction awayfrom the opening, e.g. a distance of 2-5 cm along the other wall awayfrom the opening.

The resilient material may be an elastomeric material. The elastomericnature of the flap enables the flap to be manually pulled away from theadjacent wall of the pouch to provide access to the opening, and topermit an inner pouch to be inserted thereinto and be withdrawntherefrom.

The flap may be fixed at each end so that it lies flat against a face ofthe pouch. The flap assists in securely retaining personal items withinthe pouch during use.

The strap may include an elongate strap member having two longitudinalside edges, two opposed ends and a releasable attachment for releasablyattaching the ends of the strap to each other.

The strap member may also be made of elastomeric material. The pouch andthe strap member may be made of the same elastomeric material.

In one example form the strap member may be integrally formed with thepouch of elastomeric material. The strap member may form one of thewalls of the outer pouch. In particular the strap member may forms saidone wall of the pouch.

The pouch and the strap may include any one or more of the otherfeatures of the outer pouch and strap described in the first aspect ofthe invention above.

The carry bag may further include an inner pouch within which one ormore articles can be received in which case said one pouch may bereferred to as an outer pouch. The inner pouch may be capable ofwaterproof storage of personal items.

According to yet another aspect of this invention there is provided acarry bag for carrying personal items, including:

-   -   a pouch within which one or more items can be received, the        pouch being interchangeable between an open and a closed        condition, the pouch being made of a water impervious material,        and the pouch may be designed to resist water entry when in the        closed condition.

The carry bag may include a further pouch within which said one pouchcan be received in which case said one pouch can be referred to as aninner pouch.

The inner pouch may comprise two sheets of flexible plastics material.The two walls may be of substantially rectangular shape and the innerpouch in turn may have a substantially rectangular shape having twosides and two ends.

The water impervious sheet plastic material from which the walls of theinner pouch are formed may be a material that tends to stick togetherreleasably when the two walls are brought into contact thereby helpingto resist water entry into the inner pouch. The water impervious sheetplastic material from which the walls of the inner pouch are formed maybe a polyvinyl chloride (PVC), which is a thermoplastic polymer.

The opening may be defined by one end of the inner pouch which end isopen. The two walls of sheet material may be sealed to each other alongtwo sides and one end thereof, e.g. the end opposite the open endforming the opening.

The inner pouch may comprise a personal item receiving section remotefrom the opening that is side by side with a fold over section that isadjacent the open end. The fold over section may be folded over to lieagainst the item receiving section when the inner pouch is in the closedcondition whereby to resist water entry into the inner pouch in use.

The inner pouch may include any one or more of the other features of theinner pouch described in the first aspect of the invention above.

In accordance with a further aspect, the present invention provides amethod of manufacturing a carry bag for carrying personal items, themethod comprising:

cutting out a base piece corresponding to the shape and dimensions of acombined strap member and a rear piece of an outer pouch;

cutting out a front piece corresponding to a rectangular shape having aleft side, a right side, a top side and a bottom side to form the frontpiece of the outer pouch;

cutting out a flap piece corresponding to a rectangular shape having aleft side, a right side, a top side and a bottom side to form the flappiece of the outer pouch;

binding the bottom side of the flap piece;

binding together the front piece and the flap piece by binding thecorresponding left and right sides of the front piece and the flappiece;

sewing the combined front piece and lap piece onto the base piece bysewing down the left and right corresponding edges over the previouslybound edges;

binding the base piece around its entire periphery including the top andbottom corresponding edges of the combined front piece and flap piece;

cutting a vertical slit adjacent an end piece of the base piece toaccommodate an eye, the eye is then attached into the vertical slit;

attaching a first fastening strip to another end of the base piece andfastening a second complementary fastening piece on the base piecespaced apart distance from the first fastening strip.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

A carry bag for personal items in accordance with the invention maymanifest itself in a variety of forms. It will be convenient tohereinafter describe in detail several preferred embodiments of theinvention with reference to the accompanying drawings. The purpose ofproviding this detailed description is to instruct persons having aninterest in the subject matter of the invention how to carry theinvention into practical effect. However it is to be clearly understoodthat the specific nature of this detailed description does not supersedethe generality of the preceding broad description. In the accompanyingdiagrammatic drawings:

FIG. 1 is a front view of a carry bag for personal items in accordancewith an embodiment of the invention comprising an inner pouch, an outerpouch, and a strap;

FIG. 2 is a schematic three dimensional view of the carry bag of FIG. 1in which the outer pouch and strap are being strapped onto a user'sforearm;

FIG. 3 is a front view of a carry bag for personal items in accordancewith an embodiment of the invention comprising an inner pouch, an outerpouch and a strap;

FIG. 4 is a schematic front three dimensional view of the outer pouch ofthe bag of FIG. 1 showing the flap that extends down the front face ofthe pouch and how it can be manually held open to provide access to theouter pouch;

FIG. 5 is a schematic rear three dimensional view of the outer pouch ofFIG. 4 showing how the strap member also forms the back sheet of theouter pouch.

FIG. 6 is a schematic three dimensional view of the carry bag of FIG. 1showing three stages from fully open to passing the strap through theopening and finally just before the strap is folded to a closedposition; and

FIG. 7 is a schematic three dimensional view of the carry bag of FIG. 1in which a credit card is inserted into the inner pouch and the innerpouch is then inserted into the outer pouch.

In FIGS. 1 to 7, reference numeral 10 refers generally to a carry bagfor carrying personal items in accordance with one embodiment of theinvention.

The carry bag 10 comprises broadly an inner pouch 12 within whichpersonal items (not shown) can be received, and an outer pouch 16 withinwhich the inner pouch 12 can be received. The carry bag 10 also includesa strap 18 on the outer pouch 16 for strapping the outer pouch 16 to thebody 20 of a user.

The inner pouch 12 is a flat pouch having two major panels 22, 24 ofrectangular shape that are sealed to each other around three of theiredges. The drawings show only the major panel 22, major panel 24 isidentical to that of major panel 22. The inner pouch 12 is open alongthe fourth edge of each panel 22, 24 thereby defining an opening 26 forthe inner pouch 12. The inner pouch 12 can be divided up into a personalitem receiving section 28 remote from the opening 26 and a fold oversection 30 adjacent the opening 26. The inner pouch 12 is manuallyinterchangeable between an open condition and a closed condition. In theopen condition shown in FIG. 3 the fold over section 30 is broadly inline or in plane with the item receiving section 28 and the opening 26can be opened up to provide access to the interior of the inner pouch12, in particular the item receiving section 28. The fold over section30 is folded over to lie against the item receiving section 28 when theinner pouch 12 is in the closed condition shown in FIG. 7. The innerpouch 12 lies flat with a low profile when it is in the closedcondition. Naturally the manner in which items are packed into the innerpouch 12 can also help to achieve a flattened pouch 12 with a lowprofile.

The inner pouch 12 may also be folded over more than once, for examplethe fold over section 30 may be divided into a number of sections andfolded over more than once to close the inner pouch 12. The fold oversection 30 is folded over to lie against the item receiving section 28no matter how many times the folded over section is folded over.

The inner pouch 12 is constructed so as to resist water entry when inthe closed condition. In the illustrated example embodiment this isachieved by making the inner pouch 12 of a type of plastics material inwhich adjacent surfaces of the plastic material tend to stick to eachother, e.g. releasably. This type of plastic is commercially availableand is referred to as sheet PVC (polyvinyl chloride) plastics material.

The part of the two major panels 22, 24 forming the fold over section ofthe pouch 12 lie up against each other and are in contact with eachother in the closed condition. The particular material used for themajor panels 22, 24 assists in getting the sheets to seat up againsteach other. This way the inner pouch 12 resists the ingress or passageof moisture between the two surfaces of plastic when the pouch 12 is inthe closed condition. The inner pouch 12 is sized to receive personalitems therein such as a set of keys, some money and personal cards suchas a car license and a credit card. In an example form of the inventionthe item receiving section 28 of the inner pouch 12 is of rectangularshape and may have a length of 10 to 15 cm and a width of 8 to 13 cm.

The fold over section 30 is similarly of rectangular shape and may havea length of 8 to 13 cm and a width of 8 to 13 cm. The fold over section30 is of the same rectangular form that the item receiving section 28.

The outer pouch 16 which will now be described in more detail is made ofa resilient material, e.g. an elastomeric material, which can bemanually stretched. In the example embodiment the elastomeric materialthat is used is neoprene, e.g. a 100% neoprene cloth of the type that iscommercially available. The elastomeric material assists the functioningof the pouch 16 as will become apparent from the detailed descriptionbelow.

The outer pouch 16 has an outer pouch opening 34, shown in FIG. 4. Theouter pouch 16 can be manually moved from a resting condition in whichthe pouch opening 34 is closed to an open condition in which the pouchopening 34 is held open by the hands of a user (and the inner pouch 12can be inserted into or withdrawn from the outer pouch 16). This isachieved by stretching the resilient material of the outer pouch 16 tothe open condition. When this manual stretching is released the inherentresilience of the material of the outer pouch 16 returns it to theresting or closed condition. The details of a user's hand pulling theflap 58 away from the front wall 42 have been omitted from FIG. 4 forclarity.

In the example embodiment of the invention that has been illustrated,the outer pouch 16 is of broadly rectangular configuration being formedfrom two sheets of flexible material that are fastened to each other andform major surfaces that are a front sheet 42 and a back sheet 40.

The outer pouch 16 has two long sides 44, 45 along which the two majorsurfaces forming the front sheet 42 and the back sheet 40 are attachedto each other. The outer pouch 16 also has two short ends 46, 47 thatextend transverse to the long sides 44, 45. The front and back sheets,42, 40 forming the outer pouch 16 are attached to each other along thetwo long sides 44, 45 and along one end 46 of the pouch 16. The sheets42, 40 are not attached to each other along the end 47 of the pouch 16thereby forming the opening 34 of the outer pouch 16 through whichaccess can be obtained to the interior thereof. The long sides 44, 45extend transverse to the longitudinal direction of the strap 18 and thetransverse ends 46, 47 extend broadly parallel to the longitudinaldirection of the strap member 18.

The outer pouch 16 is sized to receive the inner pouch 12 therein (inthe closed condition) in such a way that the inner pouch 12 can lie flatwithin the outer pouch 16. It does not need to be specifically folded orpacked for it to lie properly within the outer pouch 16.

The outer pouch 16 includes a flap 58 extending from the back sheet 40across and over the opening 34 and then along part of the front sheet 42whereby to physically close off the outer pouch opening 34.

The flap 58 has two opposed side edges 64, 66 extending to a freeterminal end of the flap that extends a distance of 2-7 cm away from theopening 34 along the front sheet 42. The two opposed side edges 64, 66of the flap 58 are held against the adjacent front sheet 42 along theirlength, e.g. by being attached thereto by stitching or the like.

The elastomeric nature of the flap 58 enables the flap 58 to be manuallypulled away from the adjacent front sheet 42 of the outer pouch 16 toprovide access to the interior of the outer pouch 16, through theopening 34, whereby to permit the inner pouch 12 to be inserted thereinand to be withdrawn therefrom. This action to access the interior of theouter pouch 16 is shown in FIG. 4.

The strap 18 will now be described in some detail.

The strap 18 includes an elongate strap member 70 having twolongitudinal side edges 50, 52 and two opposed ends 72, 74 and areleasable fastener 76 for releasably attaching the ends 72, 74 of thestrap member 70 to each other.

The strap member 70 is made of elastomeric material, like the outerpouch 16, and is conveniently formed integral with the outer pouch 16.In fact the strap member 70 can be used to form the back sheet 40 of theouter pouch 16, to economise on material and simplify manufacture, inthe example embodiment of the invention as shown in FIG. 5.

The releasable fastener 76 includes two complementary fastenercomponents on the strap member spaced apart from each other. In theexample form that has been illustrated the fastener 76 is in the form ofa hook and loop fastener having a hook component 80 on the strap member70 towards one end thereof, and a loop fastener 82 on the strap member70 spaced away therefrom. This is commonly referred to as a VELCRO™fastener.

In the example embodiment, as has been described above, the strap member70 forms the back sheet 40 of the outer pouch 16. Further the strapmember 70 is sized to have a length that is suitable for attachment tothe forearm of a user 20.

The strap 18 includes an eye or eyelet 86 for receiving one end 72 andan associated end region of the strap member 70, therethrough. The endregion is then folded back over the rest of the strap member 70 and thecomplementary fastener components 80 and 82 are attached to each other.

The strap eye 86 and the returning section of the strap member 70provides a more secure attachment of the carry bag 10 to the body of auser than if only the fastener components 80, 82 were used. Even if thefastener 76 detaches, the end region of the strap 70 still has to bepulled through the eye 86 in the strap member 70 before it can detachfrom the limb of a user.

The width of the strap member 70 is less than the width of the outerpouch 16 along a large part of the length of the strap member 70.However the strap member 70 does flare outwardly, as shown at 88, as itapproaches the outer pouch 16 and transitions into the outer pouch 16.The width of the strap member 70 is broadly the same as the outer pouch16 at the point where it attaches to the outer pouch 16.

The correspondence between the side edges 50, 52 of the strap member 70and the short ends 46, 47 of the outer pouch 16 enables the corners ofthe outer pouch 16 to be held down on the strap member 70, e.g. by beingattached to the strap member 70 towards said side edges 50, 52. Thisassists in causing the outer pouch 16 to lie flat on the strap member 70and also to lie flat on the limb of a user 20. If the outer pouch 16 iscaused to lie flat it will not be likely to interfere with the movement,e.g. limb movement, of a user engaged in a sporting activity.

In the illustrated embodiment the strap member 70 forms the back sheet40 of the outer pouch 16 and thus the long sides 44, 45 of the outerpouch 16 are held flat against the strap member 70 along their length.This further assists the outer pouch 16 to be held in a position whereit lies flat on a users' body, and does not have tendency to lift off auser's body in use.

In use the carry bag 10 will typically be used to carry personal itemson a user while they are engaged in a sporting or leisure activity.

In a first step a user 20 will separate the inner pouch 12 from theouter pouch 16. The user 20 can then manually place their personal itemssuch as keys, credit cards and money into the inner pouch 12 byinserting them in through the opening 26 as shown in FIG. 3.

Thereafter the inner pouch 12 containing the personal items can beplaced in the outer pouch 16 in the manner shown in FIG. 7. To do thisthe user 20 needs to manually open up the opening 34 of the outer pouch16. The user 20 does this by pulling the flap 58 away from the flexiblefront wall 42 of the outer pouch 16 in the manner shown in FIG. 4.

Thereafter the outer pouch 16 is strapped onto the limb of a user bymeans of the strap 18. This involves threading the end 72 of the strapmember 70 through the eye 86 of the strap member 70 and then foldingsaid end 72 of the strap member 70 and an associated end region backalong the belt member 70 as shown in FIG. 6 and attaching the hook andloop fastener components 80, 82 to each other.

Thereafter the carry bag 10 is fitted onto a user 20 and the user 20 canthen engage in sporting or leisure activities such as cycling, swimming,running, canoeing, kayaking or the like. They can do so secure in theknowledge that their personal possessions including car keys andvaluables are safely contained in the inner pouch 12 which is receivedwithin the outer pouch 16 which is strapped onto their bodily person.

After use when a user 20 desires to retrieve their personal items theyseparate the fastener components 80, 82, with draw the strap memberthrough the eye 86 and then detach the strap and pouch 16 from their armor leg. Thereafter they can hold open the opening 34 to the outer pouch16 to remove the inner pouch 12 from the outer pouch 16. Thereafter theycan retrieve their personal items from the inner pouch 12.

FIGS. 3 to 5 illustrate a carry bag for personal items that is avariation on that shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. In this drawing the samereference numerals will be used to refer to the same components as inFIGS. 1 and 2.

In FIGS. 3 and 5 the strap member 70 is sized to be suitable for passingaround the leg of a user, e.g. a lower leg or a calf region of a user.Otherwise the carry bag 10 is the same as that in FIGS. 1 to 5 andfunctions in much the same way as the carry bag 10 in FIGS. 1 and 2.

In yet another embodiment (not shown) of the invention that has not beenillustrated the strap is sized to be long enough to be passed around themiddle or waist region of a user. Apart from this point of difference itfunctions similarly to the carry bag described above with reference toFIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 6 is a schematic three dimensional view of the carry bag of FIG. 1showing the three stages from fully open to passing the strap throughthe opening and finally just before the strap is folded to a closedposition. As the carry bag in FIG. 6 is structurally and functionallysimilar to that in FIG. 1 the same reference numerals will be used torefer to the same components unless otherwise indicated.

In a still further embodiment (not shown) the strap member 70 has ashorter length than the FIG. 1 embodiment. This strap member 70 is thusof a different size and can be used on a user where a shorter straplength is required to fasten it to the body of a user, e.g. a child.

The present invention will now be described with reference to a methodof manufacturing a carry bag for carrying personal items. While thismethod is described it will be obvious to a skilled person in therelevant art that a number of methods may be used to manufacture thecarry bag 10.

The process for manufacturing the carry bag 10 begins by cutting out theback piece or sheet 40, the front piece or sheet 42, and the flap piece58. The back sheet 40 includes the combined strap member 18 and a rearpiece of an outer pouch. The front sheet 42 is formed of a rectangularshape having a left side 44, a right side 45, a top side and a bottomside 46 and forms the front piece of the outer pouch 16. The flap piece58 is a rectangular shape having a left side 64, a right side 66, a topside 47 and a bottom side and forms the flap piece 58 of the outer pouch16.

Next the bottom side of the flap 58 is bound by sewing a band onto thebottom side. The same process is then carried out to bind together thefront sheet 42 and the flap 58 by binding the corresponding left 44, 64and right sides 45, 66 of the front sheet 42 and the flap 58. Then thecombined front piece 42 and flap 58 are sewn onto the base sheet 40 bysewing down the left 44, 46 and right 45, 66 corresponding edges overthe previously bound edges.

The base sheet 40 is then bound around its entire periphery includingthe top 47 and bottom 46 corresponding edges of the combined front sheet42 and the flap 58.

In order to fit the eye or eyelet 86 into the base sheet 40 a verticalslit is cut in the base sheet 40 adjacent an end piece 74 of the basesheet 40. The eye 86 is then attached by any known method of attachingan eye to a material. For example the eye may be sewn into the verticalslit.

Finally, the releasable fastening strips 80, 82 are attached by a knownmethod to the base sheet 40. The first piece 80 is attached at an end 72of the base sheet 40. The second piece 82 a complementary fasteningpiece 82 is attached to the base sheet 40 spaced apart a distance fromthe first fastening strip 80.

The releasable fastener 80, 82 consists of two complementary fastenercomponents on the strap member 18 spaced apart from each other. In theexample form that has been illustrated the fastener 76 is in the form ofa hook and loop fastener having a hook component 80 on the strap member70 towards one end thereof, and a loop fastener 82 on the strap member70 spaced away therefrom. This is commonly referred to as a VELCRO™fastener. An advantage of the carry bag described above with referenceto the drawings is that it can be worn on the body of a user when theyare engaging in leisure activities such as playing a game or swimming inthe sea. The carry bag can also be worn on the body of a user engaged insporting activities, including a user engaged in a serious competitivesporting activity such as a runner, a cyclist, a canoeist and a kayaker.The personal items within the inner pouch are securely received withinthe outer pouch that in turn is firmly and securely strapped onto thebody of a user.

Another advantage of the carry bag described above is that the innerpouch seals in a water resistant fashion. Thus personal items storedwithin the inner pouch are unlikely to get wet when the user swims inthe sea with the bag strapped to their arm or leg. This is the case evenwhen the user enters the water for a long time such as occurs when theuser is engaged in swimming or diving activities. This is important ifthe carry bag is to be useful for storing paper money such as bank notesor credit cards.

A yet further advantage of the carry bag described above with referenceto the drawings is that it is strapped firmly onto the limb of a userand lies flat against the arm of a user. As such it is relativelyunobtrusive and does not impede or interfere with the body actions of auser. For example a user can comfortably swim or surf while wearing thecarry bag. This makes it particularly suitable for users engaged inserious sporting activities such as tri-athletes, surf lifesavers,marathon runners and the like.

A yet further advantage of the carry bag described above is that thepersonal items are held securely within a pouch of the carrier withminimal risk of the bag and its contents of personal items being lost inthe surf while swimming. At the same time it is a quick and easy processto pack items into the bag and strap the bag onto a user's body. It isalso easy to take off the bag and withdraw the personal items from thecarry bag.

It will of course be realized that the above has been given only by wayof illustrative example of the invention and that all such modificationsand variations thereto, as would be apparent to persons skilled in theart, are deemed to fall within the broad scope and ambit of theinvention as is herein set forth.

In the specification the term “comprising” shall be understood to have abroad meaning similar to the term “including” and will be understood toimply the inclusion of a stated integer or step or group of integers orsteps but not the exclusion of any other integer or step or group ofintegers or steps. This definition also applies to variations on theterm “comprising” such as “comprise” and “comprises”.

1. A carry bag for carrying personal items, the carry bag comprising: an inner pouch within which one or more personal items can be received, the inner pouch being made of a water impervious material such that in use the inner pouch resists water entry and thereby protects the personal items within the pouch from water; an outer pouch within which the inner pouch is completely received, the outer pouch having an opening through which the inner pouch is passed and a flap extending across the opening to completely conceal the inner pouch; and a strap on the outer pouch for strapping the outer pouch to the body of a user.
 2. The carry bag according to claim 1, wherein the inner pouch comprises two walls of flexible sheet material, the two walls are substantially rectangular in shape and the inner pouch in turn has a substantially rectangular shape having two sides and two ends.
 3. The carry bag according to claim 2, wherein the inner pouch defines an opening through which personal items may be inserted into the inner pouch and be withdrawn from the inner pouch, the opening is defined in an end thereof and may be formed by free ends of walls of flexible material, wherein the two walls of flexible material are not attached to each other along this end thereby forming the opening.
 4. The carry bag according to claim 3, wherein the two walls of sheet material are sealed to each other to form said inner pouch, the inner pouch comprising a personal item receiving section remote from the opening that is side by side with a fold over section that is adjacent the pouch opening.
 5. The carry bag according to claim 4, wherein the walls of the inner pouch are made of a material that tends to stick together releasably when the two walls are brought into contact thereby helping to resist water entry into the inner pouch.
 6. The carry bag according to claim 5, wherein the folded inner pouch may be sized to be received within the outer pouch in such a manner that it can lie flat within the outer pouch.
 7. The carry bag according to claim 1, wherein the outer pouch is manually interchanged between an open position in which the inner pouch can be inserted into or withdrawn from the outer pouch, and a closed condition in which the inner pouch is securely received within the outer pouch.
 8. The carry bag according to claim 7, wherein the outer pouch is made of a resilient material that can be manually stretched.
 9. The carry bag according to claim 8, wherein the outer pouch comprises two major surfaces formed from two walls of flexible sheet material that are fastened to each other along at least part of their periphery.
 10. The carry bag according to claim 9, wherein the outer pouch includes a flap extending from one wall across the opening, and then extending over part of the other wall whereby to physically cover the opening of the outer pouch and close it off, the flap having two opposed side edges extending to a terminal or free edge spaced away from the opening of the outer pouch, and the terminal edge extends parallel to the ends of the pouch.
 11. The carry bag according to claim 10, wherein the terminal edge of the flap is positioned a distance of 2-10 cm away from the open ends of the walls of the outer pouch.
 12. The carry bag according to clam 11, wherein the two opposed side edges of the flap are held against the adjacent major surface of the flap along their length.
 13. The carry bag according to claim 12, wherein the flap is made of resilient material and the resilient nature of the flap enables the flap to be manually pulled away from the adjacent wall of the outer pouch to provide access to the opening and to permit the inner pouch to be inserted thereinto and be withdrawn therefrom.
 14. The carry bag according to claim 1, wherein the strap includes an elongate strap member having two longitudinal side edges, two opposed ends and a releasable attachment for releasably attaching the ends of the strap to each other.
 15. The carry bag according to claim 14, wherein the strap member and outer pouch are made of an elastomeric material and is fastened to a limb of a user.
 16. The carry bag according to claim 15, wherein the releasable fastener includes two complementary fastener components on the strap member spaced apart from each other, wherein the fastener is a hook and loop fastener with a hook component on the strap member spaced away from a loop component on the strap member.
 17. The carry bag according to claim 16, wherein the strap includes an eye for the strap member, through which an end and associated end region of the strap member can be passed, the end and associated end region of the strap member can be passed through the eye and then be turned back over the strap member and the hook and loop components can then be fastened to each other.
 18. The carry bag according to claim 17, wherein the ends of the outer pouch extend parallel to the longitudinal side edges of the strap member and correspondingly the sides of the outer pouch extend transversely to the longitudinal side edges of the strap member.
 19. The carry bag according to claim 18, wherein the strap member is integrally formed with the outer pouch of elastomeric material such that the strap member forms one of the walls of the outer pouch.
 20. A carry bag for carrying personal items, including: a pouch within which one or more items can be received that is made of a resilient material that can be manually stretched, the pouch defining an opening through which the items can be passed and including a flap extending across the opening. 